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When I was in elementary school, my dad often traveled for work. My sister and I whined and moaned about it, but there were two silver linings: 1. We’d each be getting new Beanie Babies, purchased at whichever airport he was flying out of, and 2. Our mom would make breakfast for dinner while he was gone.

At age eight, a morning meal consumed at night seemed subversive and luxurious. A decade later, being able to eat hash browns and waffles at 2 in the morning in any number of old-school diners was equally exciting. But lately I’ve fallen for a fancier kind of breakfast for dinner — complete with natural wines, cocktails and warm lighting — that just may interest you all, too.

Chocolate chip pancakes and ice cream

A few months ago, I stopped by Montague Diner in Brooklyn Heights for an early dinner after reading my friend Chris Crowley’s very compelling spring preview of the restaurant. Supposedly opened on a dare by a collective of first-time restaurant owners and the chefs at Margot in Fort Greene, Montague’s whole deal is “What if a diner were sexy?” What if it were more Edward Hopper than Norman Rockwell?

Before you roll your eyes at yet another aesthetic diner, the prices are surprisingly fair: Everything on the light breakfast section of the menu — steel cut oatmeal, yogurt and granola, a bagel with cream cheese — is $9 or less. And there’s an early bird special (served from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays) that includes eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice and coffee for $13.50. I went for the corned beef hash and eggs ($16), a glass of orange wine and the pancake split — a plate-size chocolate chip pancake smothered in syrup, chocolate sauce and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream ($17). Which is all to say, you can make any visit to Montague as cheap or as expensive as you’d like.

Montague Diner, 148 Montague Street (Clinton Street)